I’m taking you to Africa………..

It’s hard to believe a guy who’s pick up line is “I’m taking you to Africa, I’m going to make you a zebra skirt and I’m going to marry you…”….but that’s what I heard 10 years ago…..

Dana’s dream ever since he was a little boy and hunted his first pheasant at age 12 on the family’s Iowa farm was to someday go to Africa….but little did he know then, he was taking me with him.

Through the years, he would re-iterate his promise. I always believed him. I knew he was a great hunter and I know that most every hunter’s dream is to hunt Africa. I knew he would somehow find a way to fulfill his dream.

This past January, he and a buddy, Larry went to the SCI show….I suppose you could somewhat relate it to our CHA (craft and hobby show) only on a guy level. There’s seminars, lots of booths, lots of taxidermy, wildlife art and lots of outfitters all there trying to convince you that they are the best at what they do.

I didn’t go, but we talked alot over the phone about all the people he met, all the outfitters he met and showed me the two different outfitters he was considering.

Then the call came…..I BOUGHT A SAFARI! AND WE’RE GOING TO AFRICA! He sounded like a little boy really, he was so excited, he almost squealed on the phone. He chose Quagga safari’s.

Well…I didn’t know really anything about this whole hunting safari thing. I knew we would go to Africa, chase animals around all day…big animals ….and he would hunt them…I’m still not sure to this day what I imagined or expected. But I can tell you that looking back over the last two weeks…It changed my life forever….

We waited 3 months for this day…okay technically I waited 10 years and 9 months and Dana waited most of his life…but since booking the trip we waited three months. The night before we left, I couldn’t sleep – I could have – except someone – who shall remain nameless – wiggled the covers all nights saying “I’m too excited to sleep” in his little boy voice. Five in the morning couldn’t have come too soon for him as he popped out of bed and said “IT’S HERE BABY – WE’RE GOING TO AFRICA!”…

So here we are….all settled in for our enormously looonnnnggggg 16 hour flight to Johannesburg, SA….The guy poppin in the photo is Larry…..Dana’s friend who came with us. He’s a lot of fun too and I think he was really excited….I knick named him MuFasa, since he was going on a lion hunt.

I don’t watch many movies, but I did watch “WE BOUGHT A ZOO!” on the plane…I loved it. That little Rosie captured my heart. It’s a really cute movie if you haven’t seen it…great family movie…

The flight was miserably long…and I couldn’t get off the plane fast enough.

Dana’s proudly showing you his first stamp in his first passport….I think we should call it his “Dream Stamp!” Welcome to South Africa Baby!!!!

We left home on May 1 at 6am. Caught our flight to Atlanta at10:30 am. The flight to Johannesburg was at 8 pm that night and it is now Wednesday evening at 6:30 pm when we got off the plane…exhausted….

We spent the night here at the Afton Guest House. An older couple own it and it is a really sweet and comfortable bed and breakfast. It will set you back about R1300 which is equivalent to about $89 US dollars. They grilled steaks for us and once our tummy’s were filled, the food coma set in and we went beddy-bye……

Love- love- love- waking up to the smell of breakfast….except I didn’t get to…Dana woke me up LONG before breakfast with the “too excited to sleep routine”….lol… I think he might have slept in his safari clothes.Breakfast was delicious…a little steak from last night…couple of eggs, and that sprinkly stuff on the potato round…which I “thought might be lemon pepper” wasn’t …it’s Aromat…a South African spice that they like to put on just about everything….and now I put it on just about everything….

We still haven’t reached our final destination…the Limpopo area and more specifically, Laphalele, is still four hours north of Johannesburg.

I always find traveling in foreign countries fascinating – even in the smallest of things. In the US we have stop signs….and they do too… Some of theirs are for tall people? I dunno!?!?!?!

but they also have DON’T stop signs…….

And beware of the warthog signs…………………………… how cute is this? They did run out in front of us several times. They are adorable….so ugly they’re cute!…

But I do have to warn you – I think they drive fast, so getting any significant pictures while in the car was impossible….

We did go thru several villages along with way. I was amazed to see the poverty of these places.

Structures like this are common and the person living in this had set up camp near some roadwork and was trying to sell candy to the cars that were stopped due to road construction. Hey…at least he saw an opportunity to make some money!

Thru the villages we saw similar structures – one had even set up a barber shop inside.

Despite the lack of money these people have, the ladies were dressed in dresses and the gentlemen were dressed up too. You would think they were going to a special occassion. You don’t see holes in their jeans – that is – if they even wear jeans. They may live in a shack, but you’ll never know it by the way they dress.

This is pretty typical of the government housing. It is merely shacks in rows. Sometimes not this fancy. Most of them have no running water, no electricity and that means public privy’s…..

rent on these types of structures is about R80 per month or around $10 US. Minimum wage per month is R250 or around $31.25. We spend more than that eating out….gives you a real perspective doesn’t it?

Pick N Pay – also known as P N P is their local grocery store chain. They are open till the “hoo” hours of the morning……. 🙂

Being that it is a long 4 hour drive….you might get hungry….so maybe you’d like to stop at a roadside shack for some Biltong? It’s their word for jerky…and it’s actually pretty good! I love the word biltong…it’s fun to say…biltong…biltong….biltong…lol 🙂

And you might have to stop for gas too. The price here is 93cents (rand). Everything is on the metric system. It’s a little over 3L of gas to our Gallon and will set you back about $3.50 US. About these same as it is here at home, with the exception that gasoline prices only rise once per month.

If you gotta pee……well..that will cost you! A whole RAND…about 12.5 cents…

Eventually though we arrive at Quagga Safaris. That’s our chalet behind us. We were greeted by the entire staff when we got out of the shuttle. Natacha was waiting with drinks in hand, Etienne our PH and all the trackers were in uniform.

Technically…the hunt doesn’t start till tomorrow…but do you think Dana is going to wait that long? I think not!

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Polymer Clay – Project Club

Linda is a professional artist, consultant and author in the Arts and Crafts/Creative Industry. Born in St. Louis, and native to Southern Missouri, she is constantly on the search for ways to inspire others with creativity. Read More…